Economic Background
• problems with the economy developed shortly before the Stock Market Crash of 1929, and got quickly worse in the early 1930s, creating an economic crisis that would last 10 years - it was called the Great Depression
2Monday, May 25, 2009
Economic Background
• the Great Depression brought mass unemployment to cities and towns in Canada
• people lost jobs whether they worked in natural resources (e.g. pulp & paper, mining, farming), transportation (e.g. railways), or manufacturing (e.g. factories)... hardest hit was construction
• retailing and other services were less affected
3Monday, May 25, 2009
Economic Background
• no province had unemployment insurance
• some Canadians could get help when they lost their jobs, by going to municipal governments (town and city level) for relief
relief: social assistance - in the 1930s, it was also called “going on the pogey,” “going on the dole,” or simply welfare
4Monday, May 25, 2009
Snapshot of life in Canada in the 1930s:*
5Monday, May 25, 2009
*Amounts provided in colour were located through Statistics Canada, and are approximations and averages based on information provided for three major cities: Halifax, Montreal, Toronto. For more specific data, please see Statistics Canada online.
Snapshot of life in Canada in the 1930s:*
Building Trade Workers
Avg $ Pd/Hour
@ 44 hoursper week
Annual Income
Equals, today:
Bricklayers & Masons 0.90 $39.60 $2,059.20 $26,888.55
Carpenters, Sheet-Metal Workers, Stone Cutters
0.70 $30.80 $1,601.60 $20,913.31
Electrical Workers, Plasterers, Plumbers
0.80 $35.20 $1,830.40 $23,900.93
Painters 0.60 $26.40 $1,372.80 $17,925.70
General Labourers 0.45 $19.80 $1,029.60 $13,444.27
5Monday, May 25, 2009
*Amounts provided in colour were located through Statistics Canada, and are approximations and averages based on information provided for three major cities: Halifax, Montreal, Toronto. For more specific data, please see Statistics Canada online.
Snapshot of life in Canada in the 1930s:
Metal Trade Workers
Avg $ Pd/Hour
@ 44 hoursper week
Annual Income
Equals, today:
Blacksmiths, Boilermakers 0.70 $30.80 $1,601.60 $20,913.31
Machinists, Moulders
0.60 $26.40 $1,372.80 $17,925.70
6Monday, May 25, 2009
Snapshot of life in Canada in the 1930s:
Printing Trades Avg $ Pd/Hour
@ 46 hoursper week
Annual Income
Equals, today:
Compositors, Machine & Hand (arranging type for
printing) - News0.87 $40.00 $2,080.00 $27,160.15
Compositors, Machine & Hand (see above) - Job;
Pressmen, News0.76 $35.00 $1,820.00 $23,765.13
Pressmen, Job 0.65 $30.00 $1,560.00 $20,370.11
Bookbinders 0.70 $32.00 $1,664.00 $21,728.12
Bindery Girls 0.24 $11.00 $572.00 $7,469.04
7Monday, May 25, 2009
Snapshot of life in Canada in the 1930s:
Electric Railways (e.g. trolleys)
Avg $ Pd/Hour
@ 44 hoursper week
Annual Income
Equals, today:
Conductors & Motormen 0.56 $24.64 $1,281.28 $16,730.65
Linemen, Electricians 0.60 $26.40 $1,372.40 $17,920.48
Shop and Barn 0.50 $22.00 $1,144.00 $14,938.08
Trackmen and Labourers
0.40 $17.60 $915.20 $11,950.47
8Monday, May 25, 2009
Snapshot of life in Canada in the 1930s:
Unskilled Factory Labour
Avg $ Pd/Hour
@ 44 hoursper week
Annual Income
Equals, today:
Factory Workers, in general 0.35 $15.40 $800.80 $10,456.66
9Monday, May 25, 2009
Snapshot of life in Canada in the 1930s:
If you needed to pay for... Amount per family Total $ Equals,
today:
Beef, sirloin steak 1 lb 0.29 $3.79
Beef, chuck roast 1 lb 0.16 $2.09
Pork, fresh, roast 1 lb 0.22 $2.87
Port, salt mess 1 lb 0.23 $3.00
Bacon, breakfast 1 lb 0.30 $3.92
Eggs, fresh 1 dozen 0.34 $4.44
Milk 1 qt 0.27 $3.53
10Monday, May 25, 2009
Snapshot of life in Canada in the 1930s:
If you needed to pay for... Amount per family Total $ Equals,
today:
Butter, dairy 1 lb 0.27 $3.53
Cheese 1 lb 0.25 $3.26
Bread, plain white 1 lb 0.06 $0.78
Flour 1 lb 0.03 $0.39
Rolled oats 1 lb 0.05 $0.65
Rice 1 lb 0.09 $1.18
Green Beans 1 lb 0.06 $0.78
11Monday, May 25, 2009
Snapshot of life in Canada in the 1930s:
If you needed to pay for... Amount per family Total $ Equals,
today:
Dried Apples 1 lb 0.18 $2.35
Sugar 1 lb 0.06 $0.78
Tea, black 1 lb 0.55 $7.18
Coffee 1 lb 0.49 $6.40
Potatoes 1 pkg 0.17 $2.22
Vinegar 1 pt 0.08 $1.04
All foods, weekly budget* 8.49 $110.86
12Monday, May 25, 2009
*for more complete list of shopping items, see Statistics Canada online.
Snapshot of life in Canada in the 1930s:
If you needed to pay for... Amount per family Total $ Equals,
today:
Laundry starch 1 lb 0.12 $1.57
Coal, anthracite (hard) 1 ton 16.06 $209.71
Coal, bituminous (soft) 1 ton 9.84 $128.49
Hardwood 1 cord* 11.70 $152.78
Softwood 1 cord 0.30 $3.92
Coal Oil 1 gallon 0.29 $3.79
Rent 1 month 18.66 $243.66
13Monday, May 25, 2009
*128 cubic feet, or 3.62 cubic metres
Results of Losing your Job in the 1930s...
• furniture and cars bought on credit (paid for monthly) likely repossessed by the retailer
• move to cheaper place to live (voluntarily or evicted)
• reduce grocery list to bare necessities to save money
• no new clothes, shoes, or hygiene items
• hungry children, elders
14Monday, May 25, 2009
“Workers Organize to
Protect Your Home”Jobless and Employed
start trying to fight the economic crisis...scaring
the government
16Monday, May 25, 2009
Common Perspectives on Working, in the 1930s:
• people needed to be responsible for themselves and their families - accepting charity was shameful
• traditionally, the government was not supposed to take care of people
• men were the breadwinners and expected to have jobs
17Monday, May 25, 2009
Conflicting Points of View:Government citizen
jobless young men were loitering in cities, sleeping on park benches, gathering in ‘hobo jungles’ next to railway tracks - so many together, ‘idling’, was a recipe for trouble and a threat to public order
relief rates were deliberately lower than the wages for the worst-paid forms of work, to discourage people from asking for welfare
because their families’ relief would be reduced when they turned 16, young men chose to leave home
unable to find jobs, they were forced to beg & go to charity soup kitchens for food; had to sleep wherever they could, even outdoors - building shacks out of leftover lumber and corrugated metal, using blankets for tents, they created tent cities or ‘hobo jungles’ near towns, usually close to railway tracks
18Monday, May 25, 2009
Conflicting Points of View:Government citizen
jobless young men were loitering in cities, sleeping on park benches, gathering in ‘hobo jungles’ next to railway tracks - so many together, ‘idling’, was a recipe for trouble and a threat to public order
relief rates were deliberately lower than the wages for the worst-paid forms of work, to discourage people from asking for welfare
because their families’ relief would be reduced when they turned 16, young men chose to leave home
unable to find jobs, they were forced to beg & go to charity soup kitchens for food; had to sleep wherever they could, even outdoors - building shacks out of leftover lumber and corrugated metal, using blankets for tents, they created tent cities or ‘hobo jungles’ near towns, usually close to railway tracks
18Monday, May 25, 2009
Conflicting Points of View:Government citizen
• when jobs became available, married men were given the work first because of their status as breadwinners
• it was assumed that single men, over 16, would not burden their parents by staying home
• tended to hang out at parks and public libraries, though many working-class (blue-collar) men were illiterate, so reading was not an escape for them
• were often embarrassed and humiliated to apply for relief, especially when the answer was ‘no’
22Monday, May 25, 2009
Conflicting Points of View:Government citizen
• when jobs became available, married men were given the work first because of their status as breadwinners
• it was assumed that single men, over 16, would not burden their parents by staying home
• tended to hang out at parks and public libraries, though many working-class (blue-collar) men were illiterate, so reading was not an escape for them
• were often embarrassed and humiliated to apply for relief, especially when the answer was ‘no’
22Monday, May 25, 2009
Conflicting Points of View:Government citizen
• many cities started ‘work for wages’ programs to provide their unemployed residents with small jobs around the city - the money for the programs came from municipal, provincial, and federal sources, but they were managed by city staff
• by 1932, as the economic crisis got worse, the work projects were dropped in exchange for cash relief payments or vouchers
• young single men without jobs did not qualify for many of the ‘work for wages’ programs, because they were not ‘breadwinners’ in charge of families
• by 1932, even private and religious charities, like churches and the YMCA, couldn’t cope with the numbers of young men needing assistance to survive
23Monday, May 25, 2009
Conflicting Points of View:Government citizen
• many cities started ‘work for wages’ programs to provide their unemployed residents with small jobs around the city - the money for the programs came from municipal, provincial, and federal sources, but they were managed by city staff
• by 1932, as the economic crisis got worse, the work projects were dropped in exchange for cash relief payments or vouchers
• young single men without jobs did not qualify for many of the ‘work for wages’ programs, because they were not ‘breadwinners’ in charge of families
• by 1932, even private and religious charities, like churches and the YMCA, couldn’t cope with the numbers of young men needing assistance to survive
23Monday, May 25, 2009
Searching for Solutions...Government
Canada’s Chief of Defence Staff, Major-General McNaughton,
• was appalled by the thought of young men with no prospects for their futures, poor nourishment, suffering from listlessness (e.g. depressed)
• suggested the Prime Minister, R.B. Bennett, that the jobless young men (unmarried, homeless) should be sent to rural relief camps:
24Monday, May 25, 2009
The Relief Camp Concept
the men sent to the camps wouldn’t be allowed to vote, so they wouldn’t support Communist parties seen as threats
entering the camps would be voluntary, but men who refused to go would be arrested
isolating the jobless, single young men, and dividing the groups which were forming, would prevent a Communist revolution
doing work for the government would build up their morale
25Monday, May 25, 2009
Conflicting Points of View:
27Monday, May 25, 2009-37 in Ontario alone, e.g. near Huntsville, in Dane near Kirkland Lake, and in Kapuskasing
Conflicting Points of View:Government citizen
• 1932, set up relief camps for unemployed men
operated by the Department of Defence
located in remote areas, like interior of BC, northern Ontario, northern Quebec (to decrease possibilities of worker revolution)
work included clearing bush, building roads, planting trees, erecting public buildings, improving highways, airfields
• wanted to work and would take anything they could get rather than go on relief
• did not want to be isolated on remote work camps
• were frustrated that the government could not provide them with meaningful work
• disliked the camps - felt their time was being wasted
27Monday, May 25, 2009-37 in Ontario alone, e.g. near Huntsville, in Dane near Kirkland Lake, and in Kapuskasing
Conflicting Points of View:Government citizen
• 1932, set up relief camps for unemployed men
operated by the Department of Defence
located in remote areas, like interior of BC, northern Ontario, northern Quebec (to decrease possibilities of worker revolution)
work included clearing bush, building roads, planting trees, erecting public buildings, improving highways, airfields
• wanted to work and would take anything they could get rather than go on relief
• did not want to be isolated on remote work camps
• were frustrated that the government could not provide them with meaningful work
• disliked the camps - felt their time was being wasted
27Monday, May 25, 2009-37 in Ontario alone, e.g. near Huntsville, in Dane near Kirkland Lake, and in Kapuskasing
Conflicting Points of View:Government citizen
• camp conditions were for subsistence living, to encourage men to find work on their own
men received room, board, medical care, an allowance of $0.20 / day to buy tobacco or other small luxuries
camp budget for medical assistance was $0.03 per day
budget for food was $0.26 / day per man
• called the camps ‘The Royal Twenty Centers’ because they were only give 20 cents a day, and they were controlled by the military; also called them ‘slave camps’
• bunked in tar-paper shacks, were given army-surplus clothing, fed army-surplus food
• worked 6 1/2 days a week, 10 hours a day
• often men sent north from Toronto couldn’t take the rigours of winter
31Monday, May 25, 2009
Conflicting Points of View:Government citizen
• camp conditions were for subsistence living, to encourage men to find work on their own
men received room, board, medical care, an allowance of $0.20 / day to buy tobacco or other small luxuries
camp budget for medical assistance was $0.03 per day
budget for food was $0.26 / day per man
• called the camps ‘The Royal Twenty Centers’ because they were only give 20 cents a day, and they were controlled by the military; also called them ‘slave camps’
• bunked in tar-paper shacks, were given army-surplus clothing, fed army-surplus food
• worked 6 1/2 days a week, 10 hours a day
• often men sent north from Toronto couldn’t take the rigours of winter
31Monday, May 25, 2009
Conflicting Points of View:Government citizen
• workers also planted gardens, which helped with their diet and the cost of camp operations
• generally men stayed in the camps for just over 3 months:
men were discharged if they found jobs
men could also be discharged if they were found to be medically unfit
• men had to make their own amusements, and depended on charities for books and magazines
• some men drifted from camp to camp looking for a change in scenery, which was hard on the long-term residents
• men did not have a chance to save any money, because they weren’t actually paid
34Monday, May 25, 2009
Conflicting Points of View:Government citizen
• workers also planted gardens, which helped with their diet and the cost of camp operations
• generally men stayed in the camps for just over 3 months:
men were discharged if they found jobs
men could also be discharged if they were found to be medically unfit
• men had to make their own amusements, and depended on charities for books and magazines
• some men drifted from camp to camp looking for a change in scenery, which was hard on the long-term residents
• men did not have a chance to save any money, because they weren’t actually paid
34Monday, May 25, 2009
Response of the Camp Inmates:
• became increasingly militant - the isolation and dehumanizing conditions created an ideal situation for organizing
workers were desperate, and had the time & contacts to figure out how to take action
Relief Camp Workers’ Union formed
men shared literature on Communist theories of Marx, Lenin, Stalin
men started planning and preparing to strike for ‘work with wages’
35Monday, May 25, 2009
Conflicting Points of View:Government citizen
• the RCWU was banned in the camps by the Department of National Defence
any man found carrying a union card or union literature was immediately fired & blacklisted
many men with connections to the RCWU were arrested
• by 1934, the RCWU had grown into a strong, disciplined, democratic organization
• kept watch for police spies who infiltrated their ranks
37Monday, May 25, 2009
Conflicting Points of View:Government citizen
• the RCWU was banned in the camps by the Department of National Defence
any man found carrying a union card or union literature was immediately fired & blacklisted
many men with connections to the RCWU were arrested
• by 1934, the RCWU had grown into a strong, disciplined, democratic organization
• kept watch for police spies who infiltrated their ranks
37Monday, May 25, 2009
April, 1935
1500 members of the RCWU went on strike in B.C., leaving their camps & gathering in Vancouver to demand
1. Wages, of $0.40 an hour2. 7 hours of work / day3. 5 day work week4. Better food - fresh meat, new potatoes, &
one package of tobacco every three days5. Social insurance programs such as compensation for
sickness and disability6. Better unemployment insurance for the jobless7. An end to military control of the camps8. Compensation for injuries on the job9. The right to vote in provincial and federal elections
39Monday, May 25, 2009
Conflicting Points of View:Government citizen
• ignored the protests, the fundraising picnic, the tag days in Vancouver
• held controlled and disciplined demonstrations & protests; support from other citizens totaled $5,000
41Monday, May 25, 2009
Conflicting Points of View:Government citizen
• ignored the protests, the fundraising picnic, the tag days in Vancouver
• held controlled and disciplined demonstrations & protests; support from other citizens totaled $5,000
41Monday, May 25, 2009
What happened next...
43Monday, May 25, 2009-the leaders of the strike pinned the mayor and government officials in city hall, refusing to let them out - they said they were prepared to wait as long as he was prepared to go hungry (reminding him that they could outlast him as they’d been hungry a lot more often than he’d been)
What happened next...
the strikers decided to go directly to Ottawa with their demands - 1600 men left, riding CPR boxcars for transportation
43Monday, May 25, 2009-the leaders of the strike pinned the mayor and government officials in city hall, refusing to let them out - they said they were prepared to wait as long as he was prepared to go hungry (reminding him that they could outlast him as they’d been hungry a lot more often than he’d been)
What happened next...
the strikers decided to go directly to Ottawa with their demands - 1600 men left, riding CPR boxcars for transportation
were fed by supporters along the way: women’s groups, service clubs, labour councils, churches, unions, caring citizens
43Monday, May 25, 2009-the leaders of the strike pinned the mayor and government officials in city hall, refusing to let them out - they said they were prepared to wait as long as he was prepared to go hungry (reminding him that they could outlast him as they’d been hungry a lot more often than he’d been)
What happened next...
the strikers decided to go directly to Ottawa with their demands - 1600 men left, riding CPR boxcars for transportation
were fed by supporters along the way: women’s groups, service clubs, labour councils, churches, unions, caring citizens
in Calgary, they demanded & received 3 days of relief assistance from the city, and were joined by hundreds of Alberta men
43Monday, May 25, 2009-the leaders of the strike pinned the mayor and government officials in city hall, refusing to let them out - they said they were prepared to wait as long as he was prepared to go hungry (reminding him that they could outlast him as they’d been hungry a lot more often than he’d been)
What happened next...
45Monday, May 25, 2009-railways were ordered to treat the strikers as trespassers-RCMP was directed to bolster troops in Regina to disperse the trekkers
What happened next...
number of men was up to 2,000 by the time they reached Regina, Saskatchewan in mid-June
in Winnipeg, Thunder Bay, and Toronto, thousands more were waiting to join the On-To-Ottawa Trek
Prime Minister Bennett ordered the RCMP to stop the strike
the railways were forbidden to take the men any furtherRCMP were ordered to prepare to use revolvers, gas grenades, spare batons, and handcuffs
45Monday, May 25, 2009-railways were ordered to treat the strikers as trespassers-RCMP was directed to bolster troops in Regina to disperse the trekkers
The Delegation to Ottawa
46Monday, May 25, 2009-the strikers noticed an RCMP officer hidden behind a curtain in the room, suggesting the PM feared trouble
The Delegation to Ottawa
• PM Bennett agreed to meet with 8 representatives of the striking relief camp workers in Ottawa
➡the meeting lasted over an hour, and the strikers were not offered seats
➡Bennett constantly interrupted as the leader, ‘Slim’ Evans, presented their demands
46Monday, May 25, 2009-the strikers noticed an RCMP officer hidden behind a curtain in the room, suggesting the PM feared trouble
Bennett’s Response to the Strikers’ Demands
• accused them of trying to create a revolution, to destroy law and order
• said there had been absolute contentment and happiness in the camps until the RCWU had formed
• refused to recognize camp committees elected by the inmates to take up grievances with the authorities
• accused them of not trying to get work
• called the head of the delegation, ‘Slim’ Evans, a thief - Evans then called him a liar, which made it to headlines
47Monday, May 25, 2009
What happened next...
• Bennett was determined to arrest the leaders, who had gone back to disband the protest
• the RCMP were given orders to carry out a raid on a meeting of strikers
49Monday, May 25, 2009
The Regina Riot - July 1, 1935
• several hundred strikers were meeting in Regina’s Market Square to discuss strategy, when they were interrupted:
backs of vans opened & Mounties armed with baseball bats got out
strikers erected barricades & threw stones
Mounties retaliated with .38 revolvers
50Monday, May 25, 2009
The Aftermath
• 1 police detective died
• 40 protestors & 5 citizens were wounded
• 130 men arrested
• property wrecked; sidewalks covered in broken glass
• men who were not jailed drifted to other towns & cities, or back to the work camps
52Monday, May 25, 2009
The End...• 1936 - industry began to recover
• work camp allowances were changed to $15 / month wages ($0.50 / day), giving the workers more dignity
• Bennett’s Conservative government lost the next election; the Liberals promised to close the camps, which they did by the end of the year
• work still could not be found for jobless men
• seeds were sown for effective unemployment insurance programs
53Monday, May 25, 2009
-170,248 men had stayed in the camps between 1932 and 1936
...was also the Beginning.
54Monday, May 25, 2009On to Ottawa Historical Society, Vancouver BC, www.ontoottawa.ca, 11/02/02
...was also the Beginning.
• many Trekkers, as they came to be known, continued to work for helping labourers
• joined other protest movements soon after
• volunteered to fight in the Spanish Civil War
• joined politics to fight for union rights, unemployment insurance, social welfare, and medicare...until called to fight in WWII
54Monday, May 25, 2009On to Ottawa Historical Society, Vancouver BC, www.ontoottawa.ca, 11/02/02
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